


Family

by StevetheIcecube



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gift Giving, M/M, Past Character Death, Post-Path of Radiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:32:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: The Greil Mercenaries had a midwinter party every single year. They did it every year, without fail, until the year of the war. So when they return, the pressure is on for a return to form, and Ike has no idea what to do.





	Family

As the winter winds closed in, there was one thing that no one stopped talking about. The annual winter party. They had one every year, just gathering the whole band into one place for an evening of food and gift sharing and maybe slightly too much alcohol. And this year...this year would be the first time they’d be able to celebrate when Greil was no longer around.

That in and of itself was enough to make Ike’s mood a little sour. Other issues, like the invitation he’d received from an ever-persistent Titania that was still sitting on his desk and probably needed to be answered, didn’t help the matter. He knew he needed to start working out logistics, and maybe seek out some volunteers for the cooking. Before the party, they needed to get another table fixed up to fit everyone.

But he couldn’t find the will within him to do any of those things. Because it should have been his father doing the celebration, everyone knew that, and they’d missed the one last year because of everything going on, which just piled on the pressure for a sort of return to normality for all of them.

It reached a week before the gathering, and Ike eventually just asked Titania if she could sort it out. He knew that, at some point, he would have to do it, work it out himself, but...not this year. Not this time. Because last time there’d been a midwinter party, he’d still been training every day to beat his father in combat and become an actual mercenary.

“Are you at least planning on coming to the event?” Titania asked.

“Of course,” he said. “I just thought you might be a better choice to organise it. I don’t know the logistics, and I don’t want to get it wrong and ruin the event or anything.”

“Can I give you a job to do for it anyway?” she asked, and he nodded, slightly hesitant. “Try and persuade everyone who might be a bit more hesitant to come. The more people are there, the better it’ll be.”

“Sure,” he agreed.

“Start with Soren,” Titania suggested. “I imagine he’ll take the longest to convince.” Ike didn’t say anything in response, but he imagined that would be a task and a half. Soren hated parties.

Ike brought it up that evening, when Soren was sat on their bed, cross-legged and reading, probably intending to do so until the candle burned out. “Do you want me there?” he asked.

“Of course,” Ike said. “You know how those parties are. I need someone who doesn’t drink buckets to have a conversation with.”

“I’m sure there are plenty of people you can do that with,” Soren said. “Like Rhys. I don’t imagine he’ll be drinking on the same level as Boyd.”

“I suppose,” he said, trying to think of a better argument. “But, I don’t know, I wanted- I’d really like it if you were there. If you were willing to come. Obviously I’m not forcing you because I know those events aren’t really your thing, but-”

“I can come,” Soren said. “I have only one request, and that’s that if we’re using both tables, we’re on a different table to Shinon and Gatrie. As entertaining as their drinking games are, I’d rather they did it at a safe laughing distance.”

“Easily done,” Ike said with a smile. That had been a lot easier than he’d expected, and now the prospect of the evening was a lot more appealing.

-

The party came together with ruthless efficiency once Ike had asked Titania to help. Oscar, Rolf, and Mist had been enlisted for kitchen duty, preparing food that Titania had managed to get Soren to barter for - it barely made a scratch on the monthly budget. Even the dining hall itself had become rather suddenly more festive in the space of a week, and everything looked a lot cleaner and less run down than it had before.

The meal itself passed with the kind of warm familiarity it always did. Even though there were plenty of new faces, people who’d stuck around even after the downsizing of the end of the war, it felt pretty similar to the way it always did. It was nice, in a way, but the shadow of his father still hung over him.

Ike tried not to be too put off by the way he was feeling, the way his mind always drifted back to the same couple of things. Last time, his father had made a toast with a brimming mug to the idea that, next year, Ike would become a man and join the company.

Well, his father had certainly managed to get his wish. He just...wished it had been in another way. And that sort of hovered over him the whole time, even though the food was amazing, and everyone around him was so happy. He hoped that other people felt the same way, almost, but he also hoped that the others were able to move on. He was finding the moving on part a lot harder than he’d anticipated.

When the meal was over, there were significantly large portions of the room that were taken over by drunken rambling. Gifts started to appear from under the table, with plenty of items going to everyone. Ike received his share of winter cloaks, a sword, a basket of dried meat. In return, he handed out plenty of gifts of his own: a pegasus brush for Marcia, a winter coat for Mist, a knife for Volk. He’d managed to find enough money in his wages to scrape together something for everyone, just about.

Seeing everyone smile gratefully and disperse into their separate groups to talk late into the night lightened Ike’s mood a fair amount. It was good, seeing everyone happy. He moved towards the fireplace and threw another log on, watching the sparks fly before he sat down. Within a couple of moments, Soren came to join him.

They sat there for a couple of minutes in silence, watching the fire with their legs just barely touching. Ike felt sort of bad, because Soren had spent the whole time looking slightly uncomfortable as everyone had a lot more fun around him. But this was nice. It sort of felt like just the two of them.

“If they keep going at it like they are, one of the tables might be broken again by the end of the evening,” Soren commented, his eyes fixed on the table furthest away from them, which had already been hurriedly cleared by a more sober participant.

“They’ll be the ones fixing it, then,” Ike said with a chuckle. “I’m not doing it.”

Soren nodded, drawing his eyes away from their revelling. “You got a lot of gifts,” he commented. Ike’s spoils of the season were on the floor just in front of him, and after a moment he picked up one of the cloaks and tossed it over Soren’s shoulders. Soren shot him an exasperated smile and shuffled closer so they were both nestled under it, even though the fire was plenty warm enough. It was still nice.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Ike said, as if he hadn’t been waiting the whole meal for an appropriate time to mention it. “I know you always say you don’t want anything, but-”

“I don’t,” Soren said. “You don’t have to buy me anything out of a sense of obligation. All of this,” he gestured to the room around them, “is plenty enough to remind me that winter isn’t too much crueler than summer.”

“I’ll be sure to let Mist know how much the party moved you,” Ike said with a laugh, and Soren shot him a small scowl. He knew Ike wouldn’t. “But I bought you something anyway, so tough.” Out of the box he’d used to put all his gifts in, he drew out a final present. Honestly, this one had been the hardest and easiest to buy.

The small book was leather-bound, which had always been Soren’s preferred type with books (well, Soren had mentioned it once or twice that it was a shame cloth-bound books were more cost-effective). Ike hadn’t really understood when the seller had explained to him a little too in-depth on what the book was about, but he understood the title well enough. It was a collection of different texts that had been banned in Daein. The kind of thing that Soren found interesting, but never spent money on because it was more an idle interest than any practical use.

Soren didn’t say any more than a thank you to him for the book, but the expression on his face was enough. Ike had no doubt that the next time he was sat next to Soren while he read, that was the book that would be in his hands. “Was it the right kind of thing?” he asked.

“Definitely,” Soren said, and Ike was willing to pretend that the wider than usual smile on Soren’s face was a trick of the firelight playing off his face. “I ma- got you something too.”

From some area in his robes (because Soren’s robes seemed to have an endless capacity for items of all varieties), Soren pulled out a small bundle of cloth. It was simple, hand made, and probably had no real practical use. It was an incredibly un-Soren gift, but Ike accepted it gladly. A scarf, made of undyed wool, probably made locally. And the way Soren looked at him while he wound it carefully around his neck told Ike all he needed to know about who had taken the time to knit it.

“Thanks, Soren,” he said. “It’s really soft.” He didn’t really know what to say about it. He was bad at thanking people for gifts properly, or anything like that. This was more than a gift that he could casually say thank you to. It wasn’t something he’d categorically be able to say ‘I really wanted this’. But it was a great gift anyway.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “It wasn’t expensive.” No, it probably wasn’t, but it was the time that went into it that made it what it was, but Soren apparently didn’t want to admit that he’d made it himself. “I just knew you’d get something for me no matter what I said. So I got something in exchange.”

“I love it,” Ike said firmly. “You don’t need to put your gift choosing abilities down like that.” Even though they were already closer than they tended to be when they weren’t alone, Ike moved to take Soren’s hand in his. Ike decided not to tease Soren about the blush forming across his cheeks that was definitely, absolutely just because of the warmth of the fire and cloak.

Soren put his head on Ike’s shoulder, and Ike smiled. Maybe Soren had drunk a little more of the ale than he’d claimed. They sat in silence for a while longer, just listening to the crackle of the fire and the volume of some very drunk mercenaries in the hall behind them.

Ike smiled to himself and shifted slightly, moving to capture Soren’s lips in a kiss. Ike didn’t know what it was about this evening, but he’d given up on keeping all of this to the confines of his room (which, officially, wasn’t even shared with Soren, though everyone knew they shared it at this point).

“Never leave, Ike,” Soren said, squeezing Ike’s hand. Ike squeezed back.

“Never,” he said firmly. “And definitely not without you.” Ike leaned in to kiss him again and ignored the jeering from across the room. It was only jeering out of fondness, anyway. Because despite everything they’d lost...this company was still the family he held dear.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :) I have three other Christmas fanfics (Zelda, Xenoblade, and Dragon Age), if anyone is interested in reading those. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it, and if possible please leave a comment and I hope you have a good day!


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